It took 7 MONTHS, but I finally have my screen!!!
10-10-2003, 05:32 PM
#1
It took 7 MONTHS, but I finally have my screen!!!
Im estatic to say the least, long story short I ordered the xenarc VGA touchscreen from spysupply 7-8 months ago, and for many reasons it was broken and sent back. well after paying 150$ 3 months ago to have it fixed, I finally got it back!
so excited I can finally finish my in car PC.
of course after the last 8 months its outdated by now heh, but it will still likely set a record for the fastest PC installed in a Z. YEY!!!
/end celebration
so excited I can finally finish my in car PC.
of course after the last 8 months its outdated by now heh, but it will still likely set a record for the fastest PC installed in a Z. YEY!!!
/end celebration
10-10-2003, 05:43 PM
#2
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Re: It took 7 MONTHS, but I finally have my screen!!!
Originally posted by ares
but it will still likely set a record for the fastest PC installed in a Z.
but it will still likely set a record for the fastest PC installed in a Z.
Congratulations anyways!
10-10-2003, 09:51 PM
#3
well I prolly WOULD have had it at the time, who knows whats out there now. hah
Im pushing 1.6ghz AMD athlon, on a nforce II motherboard(full size ATX board with 8xAGPslot, PCI, ect.) with integrated Gforce 4 MX440 graphics chip, 512mb ram, and a 60 or 80gig hd(its been 7 months, I forget).
hopefully when I get the screen installed I can do a benchmark and we can have a lil contest.
Im pushing 1.6ghz AMD athlon, on a nforce II motherboard(full size ATX board with 8xAGPslot, PCI, ect.) with integrated Gforce 4 MX440 graphics chip, 512mb ram, and a 60 or 80gig hd(its been 7 months, I forget).
hopefully when I get the screen installed I can do a benchmark and we can have a lil contest.
10-11-2003, 09:32 PM
#6
yes I custom made that case, its all aluminum L-beams with a metal base, there is also a mesh cage that goes over it to protect it. then I can insert the floor of the glove box over it and retain approx half of the glove box space. it is EXACTLY big enough to hold the motherboard, no space spared, it is taller in the rear to house the mother board fan and heatsink, and shorter in front, pretty well following the shape of the flooring there. it is marginally larger than an epia box, but in a game of inches, it is indeed larger.
and no, the hard drive does not have any shock mounting as of this time, and it was a consideration. it needs to be reworked to be mounted verticly as I found out hard drives are pretty resilient to side impacts since the disks can bend in that direction. I did not opt for a laptop hard drive. too small, too slow, too expensive. got that bad boy for like 40$, a laptop hard drive half its size was twice the price, and no assurances that it was able to any better take the impacts.
and no, the hard drive does not have any shock mounting as of this time, and it was a consideration. it needs to be reworked to be mounted verticly as I found out hard drives are pretty resilient to side impacts since the disks can bend in that direction. I did not opt for a laptop hard drive. too small, too slow, too expensive. got that bad boy for like 40$, a laptop hard drive half its size was twice the price, and no assurances that it was able to any better take the impacts.
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10-12-2003, 04:42 PM
#8
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Heat and it's effects on CPU
Hey looks great! Are you concearned about heat in that closed up area? What operating system are you useing? and how much money did this cost you? I'm considering doing something with my touring Z..............Thanks!
10-12-2003, 06:46 PM
#9
yes heat is a concern, first off I still have to mount a fan into the glove box door, as well as 2 back in the trunk area, the idea is to get a flow of air through the glovebox and into the trunk. Im not certain if Im going to do that tho, I am going to see what temps I get first.
for straight up cooling I have the best fan and heatsink I could find, sadly I dont think I can use the fan, because although it is a MASSIVE air mover, and efficient, it is loud, too loud. but again, Ill make that judgement when its all done and setup and see just how much I can hear from the cabin.
as for cost, the computer itself was around 500$ in parts, then about 50$ in materials if you dont waste any building the case. the screen was another 550(or 700 for me due to the repair). Im running XP, and glad to say the computer has been in the car for the past 7 months, not running of course, but it has been in there, and when I turned it on today there was no problems, granted movement while running might change things, but the general movement and summer heat of GA with it off did not damage anything.
for straight up cooling I have the best fan and heatsink I could find, sadly I dont think I can use the fan, because although it is a MASSIVE air mover, and efficient, it is loud, too loud. but again, Ill make that judgement when its all done and setup and see just how much I can hear from the cabin.
as for cost, the computer itself was around 500$ in parts, then about 50$ in materials if you dont waste any building the case. the screen was another 550(or 700 for me due to the repair). Im running XP, and glad to say the computer has been in the car for the past 7 months, not running of course, but it has been in there, and when I turned it on today there was no problems, granted movement while running might change things, but the general movement and summer heat of GA with it off did not damage anything.
10-12-2003, 07:42 PM
#13
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Ares,
Glad to see you are back on the Car PC project, now that you have your screen.
As for the hard drive, I really don't think you will have any problems. My 60gb Maxtor worked fine for 6 months, and when it started going bad, it was from my error, and not from the drive not being able to handle the ride.
I didn't install a 'power on/off' switch for my computer, and I am using an Opus power supply, which boots my computer from standby mode when I start the engine. After a round of golf in the desert, where the outside tempwas over 100 degrees F, I started my car not even thinking about the computer. It must have been over 130 degree F inside the car - a bit much for a hard drive to handle.
I think going the less costly route of PC hard drives (as opposed to laptop drives) is the right decision for this project. I just forget to include some common sense for myself.
Glad to see you are back on the Car PC project, now that you have your screen.
As for the hard drive, I really don't think you will have any problems. My 60gb Maxtor worked fine for 6 months, and when it started going bad, it was from my error, and not from the drive not being able to handle the ride.
I didn't install a 'power on/off' switch for my computer, and I am using an Opus power supply, which boots my computer from standby mode when I start the engine. After a round of golf in the desert, where the outside tempwas over 100 degrees F, I started my car not even thinking about the computer. It must have been over 130 degree F inside the car - a bit much for a hard drive to handle.
I think going the less costly route of PC hard drives (as opposed to laptop drives) is the right decision for this project. I just forget to include some common sense for myself.
10-12-2003, 08:01 PM
#14
Ill keep that in mind, in GA I occasionally hit over 100 inside the car, have to keep it off for those occasions, or something...
my thought was Id try it out being its so much cheaper, if it really just breaks down in a month Ill have to figure something out. hopefully it wont tho...
I couldnt use the opus sadly, not enough power, but I am using an inverter, and tho I have not yet tested a FM transmitter with it, the screen and PC operate off the inverter and both function fine.
my thought was Id try it out being its so much cheaper, if it really just breaks down in a month Ill have to figure something out. hopefully it wont tho...
I couldnt use the opus sadly, not enough power, but I am using an inverter, and tho I have not yet tested a FM transmitter with it, the screen and PC operate off the inverter and both function fine.
10-13-2003, 08:05 PM
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Glad to hear your back in business. Post some pics once you get it up and running.
I actually reworked my setup to build it all into the mailslot. I really wanted the glove box back.
Good luck!
I actually reworked my setup to build it all into the mailslot. I really wanted the glove box back.
Good luck!
10-13-2003, 09:02 PM
#17
heh, that for sure would never fit sadly, the epia with a custom box I could see, a cool setup, great use of its size too.
Im using the mailbox slot too, thats going to be the "interface" if you will. mounting the DVD drive and USB ports for easy access. and then close the mailbox slot and the nav door, and its completely concealed.
Im using the mailbox slot too, thats going to be the "interface" if you will. mounting the DVD drive and USB ports for easy access. and then close the mailbox slot and the nav door, and its completely concealed.
10-14-2003, 10:26 AM
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Originally posted by ares
these are the power switches for the inverter and computer, I still need to wire in relays to automate the process, but these are the hard wired switches incase I need to turn the PC off or the power off without turning the car off.
these are the power switches for the inverter and computer, I still need to wire in relays to automate the process, but these are the hard wired switches incase I need to turn the PC off or the power off without turning the car off.
10-14-2003, 11:42 AM
#19
this is one of the things I havent completed yet. I initially have it set up that the power switch actually controls the power source to the inverter.
this does not work as intended because the inverter will not restart if the power to it is cut... its own switch must be flipped on with power applied if that makes sense. I guess a safety feature. so I have to change it
the plan is to undo the switch as it stands, put an always on wire to the inverter, then open the inverter and put a switch in parralel with the stock switch of the inverter. also there will be a time delay relay in parralel with those 2 switches, its switch current will be the ACC power. so thats 3 ways to turn the inverter on and thus turn the PC on. one is the relay that will come on with the car and will stay on for a period of time after the car is turned off. or I can turn it on without the car on by the switch I mounted in the little box. possibly in the future I will put another switch mounted in series with the relay that will allow me to turn the computer off when the car is on.
complicated eh?
but anyway thats the wiring plan. then set the PC to reboot on power interuptions. the down side is the PC does not get properly shut down if I let it be automated it just cuts power, but I can shut it down and reboot it from the button in the change tray if I choose.
this does not work as intended because the inverter will not restart if the power to it is cut... its own switch must be flipped on with power applied if that makes sense. I guess a safety feature. so I have to change it
the plan is to undo the switch as it stands, put an always on wire to the inverter, then open the inverter and put a switch in parralel with the stock switch of the inverter. also there will be a time delay relay in parralel with those 2 switches, its switch current will be the ACC power. so thats 3 ways to turn the inverter on and thus turn the PC on. one is the relay that will come on with the car and will stay on for a period of time after the car is turned off. or I can turn it on without the car on by the switch I mounted in the little box. possibly in the future I will put another switch mounted in series with the relay that will allow me to turn the computer off when the car is on.
complicated eh?
but anyway thats the wiring plan. then set the PC to reboot on power interuptions. the down side is the PC does not get properly shut down if I let it be automated it just cuts power, but I can shut it down and reboot it from the button in the change tray if I choose.
10-14-2003, 11:57 AM
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Yikes. Yes, sounds challenging. I actually mounted a laptop in a docking station under the passenger seat...found it easier than the PC option and I manually shut down my pc before turning off the ignition. However, I have to (at the moment) reach under the passenger seat to power the laptop on. I have the inverter behind the driver's seat right now, but hate having to turn that on and off all the time. I would love to put that time-delayed relay in, but I haven't been able to figure out where to get them or which one specifically to buy...and so far no one on the forum has answered my question about that.
Anyway, keep me posted when you get it hooked up. I am not so great at designing/engineering this type of stuff. Good luck!
Mike
Anyway, keep me posted when you get it hooked up. I am not so great at designing/engineering this type of stuff. Good luck!
Mike